Red
by Kyrian
Summary: GU Set before the games. Silabus is a n00b player looking for a leveling partner. Matsu is a bored PC looking for entertainment. He finds Silabus.


Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and Girls! We are here today…

Oh wait. Sorry. Anyway, this is my first delve into the game of .hack/GU, and I'm sorry to say it is sorely lacking in praise of the written word. So, I help out, yes?

This is set before the games, when Silabus first starts playing, and before Matsu joins Moon Tree (hinthint). I'm sorry if any of the timing of their meeting is off, but just go with the flow, it's fanfiction.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own .hack/GU, it's characters, or the game 'The World'.

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Silabus never wears red.

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It was his eighth day in 'The World', and he was in love.

All rigged up on his computer with the $19.95 controller and a cheap, used pair of FMD goggles, he had popped in his 'The World' disk and logged in. 'The World' was supposed to be one of the best MMORPG's in existence – even after the first version's untimely death when CC Corp's building went up in flames.

There was nothing to _not _love about 'The World': the graphics were great, the quests were challenging, and everyone had a story to tell.

Silabus smiled as his PC materialized next to the Chaos Gate in Mac Anu and pulled up his list of member addresses, which was small still but steadily growing. None of the small rectangles were glowing blue; no one was online. Great, a chance to make some new friends.

Quickly, Silabus pulled up his autochat screen – the screen that everyone saw when they targeted his PC – and changed it to proclaim that he was looking for a couple of leveling partners. It wouldn't take long; Mac Anu was teeming with players. Then, he set off at a steady jog for the magic and items shop.

Silabus loved Mac Anu. It was an example of everything his little rural town IRL wasn't, and more. The old, worn-looking buildings, the beautiful canals, and the harbor that reached into the distance: he couldn't bring himself to use the warp gates and miss it all.

"Hey! Hey you, in the green!" Silabus stopped and turned around, looking for the source of the voice. It came from a red-haired, almost bare-chested man, who was coming towards him at an easy, casual gait. His pants were slung way low about his hips, revealing a tattooed navel that made Silabus slightly uncomfortable. He was getting the feeling that if this man attempted to speed his pace (much less run), the cloth would slide right off him and into a puddle around his feet.

Silabus checked his stats quickly; his name was Matsu, an adept rogue who was currently wielding a broadsword. He was also at least 20 levels higher than Silabus's level 10.

"So, you're looking for a partner? I'm your man." He said by way of greeting. Silabus smiled; Matsu was blunt, but seemed likeable.

"Okay. Don't you mind me being such a low level, though?" he asked nervously. Matsu was probably just a normal player, but even so, he knew the ways of 'The World' better than Silabus did.

Matsu grinned at his statement and ran a tanned hand through his spiky hair. "Nah. I try to do one good deed every day, so I figured today I'd help out a n00b." he admitted cheerfully. Silabus shrugged thoughtfully; he would never have thought of it that way, but it worked for him. With a little fumbling, he managed to get his member address and a party invitation sent. Matsu accepted both, and his stats appeared on Silabus's menu.

"Let's go then!" Silabus exclaimed, starting back towards the chaos gate.

Matsu stopped him, quirking an eyebrow. "You're not seriously gonna run all the way back to the Chaos Gate, are you?" he asked doubtfully.

Silabus nodded, "Uh, yeah… I like the scenery." Matsu rolled his eyes and flicked his hand; a sort of one-wheeled motorcycle appeared next to him, rumbling lowly. He slung one leg over and gave Silabus a wave, "C'mon, I'll give you a lift on my Steam Bike."

"Uh…" He wasn't so sure about that.

"Just do it, Silibus. You'll be fine." The blade brandier gulped and awkwardly got on, too nervous about this turn of events to correct his misspelled name.

Matsu's only warning was a loud whoop; Silabus instinctively found himself clutching his controller as the Steam Bike shot forward. His character responded by grabbing Matsu's shoulders in a death grip, his rat tail whipping in the wind behind him.

Despite Mac Anu's business, Matsu didn't hit anybody; he turned and skidded about every PC, sometimes just missing them by a hair. All Silabus could do was hold on and try to keep his eyes open. Even though he knew he was really sitting at home with a pair of goggles on, the blade brandier still couldn't slow his racing heart.

Surprisingly, very few got mad as Matsu raced recklessly down the town's narrow streets. In fact, most of them stopped to watch or got out of the way, looking at Silabus as he dug his claws into the Rogue's shoulders. The scenery was turning into a blur; Silabus felt sick if he tried to focus on any one thing. Matsu was whooping and he could hear them skidding, but without the feel of the wind on his face the trip was surreal and almost eerie. Though Matsu didn't seem to mind.

With one last final burst of speed, the Steam Bike climbed the stairs and screeched to a stop a few pixels away from the Dome Room's door. Silabus shakily maneuvered his PC off the bike and tried not to let his heavy breathing hit the mike.

Matsu laughed giddily as the bike disappeared. If Silabus had been looking at him IRL, he knew the Rogue's cheeks would be flushed with excitement.

"Wild, huh?" he commented as they entered the dome and crossed to the large swirling orb.

"Uh… yeah, I guess. I've never been on one before." He admitted as Matsu scrolled through his area words.

"Really? Wow. Hey, let's do one of those waterfall dungeons, huh? I hate field areas." Silabus smiled and agreed. He loved field areas, but he wasn't about to tell Matsu that.

He watched the Adept Rogue as they warped into the dungeon. He was grinning recklessly and hopping from foot to foot.

"Man, my heart's beating like crazy! Let's go!" he took off running, Silabus at his heels.

The dungeon was a good choice; Silabus came close to dying a few times, but Matsu was always at his back with a Health Drink ready. He would knock the enemies over with his broadsword, while Silabus peppered them with his blade. Despite the broadsword being roughly the size and weight of Matsu himself, he was graceful with it, and told Silabus later that of his three weapon types the broadsword was his favorite.

"You know," He complained, "the only thing I hate about dungeons is that you can't ride the steam bike."

"…You're really into motorcycles, huh, Matsu?" Silabus asked. The Rogue ran a hand through his hair and nodded.

"Yeah, I've got my own bike, a Harley from the '90's. Was a chop shop case when I bought it. It's beautiful." He replied with surprising tenderness. "My parents took it away after I lost my license though." He shrugged bitterly as they continued along a hallway, punctuated by the sound of Chim Chims squeaking as they rolled past on small trains.

"Your license? How'd you lose it?"

Matsu gave him a cold look.

"You don't want to know."

As they got deeper into the dungeon, Matsu got increasingly fidgety, running ahead, and then circling back to the slower blade brandier. When he managed to slow down enough to stay next to Silabus, the Rogue kept giving him discreet sidelong glances, which Silabus pretended not to notice.

Matsu was fidgety, yes, and perhaps not quite sane, but Silabus really liked him. He was funny, talkative, and somehow managed to make Silabus feel important in battle, though Silabus knew Matsu was the one really killing all the monsters.

Finally, with great ceremony, they reached the Beast Statue. With a wave, the red-haired PC motioned Silabus towards the treasure chest.

"Go on. You earned it, buddy."

Silabus nodded, gulped, and kicked the treasure chest.

He couldn't believe his eyes. The treasure chest had coughed up a 'Bottle Opener', which was an extremely rare level 30 blade. Silabus couldn't help it; he gasped, and looked back over his shoulder at Matsu.

"A-are you sure?"

Matsu was grinning widely.

"Yeah, hold on to it."

-Silabus tucked it away in his storage tenderly-

"I'll be getting it back soon anyway."

"I'm sorry?" Silabus asked, turning around. His face was glowing with happiness, and it was all he could do to stop himself from jumping the Rogue-

-There was a sword at his chest.

Large and heavy, it glowed a violent red and orange, giving you the impression of flames dancing down the sides of it.

Silabus looked up the blade, to the dark, tanned hand loosely grasping the hilt, up the muscular arm, past the shadowed collarbone and Adam's apple, up to the familiar face, still grinning. What he had once thought of as handsome and made him smile in return now was eerie and disturbing. Silabus's hands on the controller were sweating as he clutched it tightly.

"Bet you weren't expecting this, huh?" Matsu asked as Silabus looked away slowly, trying not to whimper.

"You could have asked just about anyone… I'm pretty famous as a PK, I guess." He continued, shrugging, "And you know, I don't normally make it my policy to run around PKing people 20 levels lower than me, but you're the lucky exception, Silibus."

Silabus didn't know what to do. He had to defend himself, but he… he couldn't pull his sword on Matsu. Matsu who defended him in a dungeon much too high of a level for him…

"…Just figured…"

Matsu who gave him 25 Health Drinks when he ran out…

"…And you didn't even know, how sad…"

Matsu who had thrown himself into battle like an eager little boy, yelling…

"…But, y'know…"

Silabus was backed into a corner, and could do nothing but stare like a deer in the headlights as Matsu leaned in towards him.

"Really? I just like green…"

His earring dangled, swinging in the puff of Silabus's breath.

A flash; Matsu's first swing hit him like a sack of bricks. The blade brandier brought his sword up in time to block the next swing, but it did little; the broadsword cut through his defenses like butter.

But here was an opening. Silabus darted away, desperately scrolling through his items list as he ran. There was nothing that could help him. Matsu was going to kill him, and there was nothing he could do.

"Come on, you wuss. Stop running away. Take a swing at me, will ya?" the Rogue taunted. His broadsword's reach had nearly a quarter of the dungeon room's space… it was all Silabus could do to dodge his attacks. Matsu's grin was fading; his lunges were more powerful now as he got irritated.

"What's wrong with you? Fight back, damnit!" he yelled, jumping towards Silabus and swinging his blade in a wide arc. The blade brandier made a split-second decision and threw himself to the right.

He didn't make it. The tip of the flaming broadsword caught him in the chest; he flew through the air and bounced off a wall, his HP nearly nonexistent.

With that final blow, Silabus could see it was over. Matsu was standing above him, leaning on the hilt of his broadsword, smiling lazily.

Silabus was breathing heavily, and he could feel how hot his face was against his FMD. How could this be happening…?

"I trusted you." He said breathlessly.

Matsu snorted.

"Yeah, whatever kid. Life sucks. Sorry."

Silabus closed his eyes. He saw red.

"But hey, listen… If you're man enough to face me after I PK you, I'll give you that Bottle Opener, eh?" he sneered as something hot seared the side of Silabus's neck.

He puled off his FMD just as a horrible shriek erupted from the speakers, and soft solemn music began playing.

Game over.

Silabus never wears red.

As always, if you liked it, drop me a line. I love to hear feedback. Also, if you're reading this and you're from send me a PM at SoyMilk.

Oh, and thanks to my beta reader(who's never played .hack), azuredragon92 aka Bo.


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